Consequence
by fantasticallyfurious
Summary: It's called love, you dumbass, don't throw it away
1. Chapter 1

I grabbed my jacket and keys, about to walk out the house and to Rivercourt to watch my best friend play basketball. "Whoa, where do you think you're going, missy?" Aunt Jackie asked from her spot in the kitchen.

"Uh," I spun around, looking at her with a sheepish look. "The game?"

She smirked at me. "The Ravens game or the Court game?"

I rolled my eyes, pulling on my jacket. "Like I would go to one of those games for a million bucks," I laughed bitterly.

"Be safe!" she called after me. I waved at her as I exited the house, going down the walkway to my car. Looking across the street I see Nathan Scott walking out of his own house to his car. He looks over at me as I get to my car, a scowl growing on his face. He shakes his head angrily, opening his door and throwing his bag in before getting in himself, speeding out of his driveway seconds later.

"My favorite losers," I say with a smile as I get out of my car a few minutes later. Junk rolls his eyes at me and flips me off while Mouth and Jimmy wave at me. "Junk, you know I only say it out of love."

"Well if it isn't little Miss. Jesse Russell, come to join us after spending the week in your castle?" Skills asked me.

I pouted at him. "That's not fair, you know I had to study for a history exam!"

Lucas looked over at me and smiled. "She's too much of a nerd to even think about the letter after 'A'."

I scoffed, picking up a ball near my leg and throwing it at him as hard as I could. He caught it easily, holding it to his side. The guys ohed at Lucas' insult, making me huff and roll my eyes. "And you only know one language, Scott. It's dork." The guys then ohed at my comment, making me smirk at my best friend. "How you like me now, Scott?"

He rolled his eyes again, though a smile stayed on his face. He threw the ball back at me, quirking an eyebrow and looking down at it. "What's this for?" I asked, holding it up and shaking it like there was a present inside.

"Put your money where your mouth is," Junk answered.

I shook my head no immediately. "Remember how well that turned out last time? There's no way I'm getting on the court with you, I could die." Lucas and the rest laughed at my exaggeration, though I wasn't joking.

I threw the ball to Junk, who caught it and just shook his head at me while I backed up against the hood of my car, sitting on it to watch the game about to start.

Lucas Scott was my best friend, and I wouldn't go back to how things were for anything.

The next day I walked into the cafe at 3:30, read to start my shift for Karen. "Ah yes, my favorite child!" she called as I opened the door.

"Hey!" Haley yelled from the back. "I heard that." I shook my head at Karen with a smile as Haley walked out. "I can't believe you can replace me like that."

"Just get to work you two," Karen says throwing an apron at me.

"Yes, ma'am."

Lucas walks in a couple hours later in his signature sweats and sweatshirt with a basketball in his hand, coming back from a game at the Rivercourt. I was sitting at the counter, working on the salt and pepper containers while Karen cleaned the counter. "Smells good in here. Did you change your hair?"

"If by 'change' you mean 'dragged a brush through it,' then yeah." I laughed and the older woman sent me a smile as Lucas just rolled his eyes.

"Well, it looks nice."

"He has to tell you that, Karen," I said sending Lucas a small smirk, "he's your son. I, however, think that you look positively glowing."

"Thank you." She sent the both of us a grateful smile and I returned it, shoving Lucas to the side lightly.

"The magazine pages are sticky again," Haley said walking into the dining area. "Little pervs. Oh, hey, Luke. You been reading this?"

"Is that the "why do I hang out with these people?" Issue, because you're on the cover of that, right?" Haley rolled her eyes before firing back at him.

"No, actually, it's the "my best friend is an idiot" issue, and there you are." I smiled at Lucas as he scoffed walking away.

"Haley, Jesse, would you like to join us?" Karen asked us from her seat at a table.

"Hell, yes," Haley said already filling up a cup with the chili Karen made. She gave me a pointed look, gesturing to a cup next to the pot.

"I mean, if I must," I said with a smile. Lucas rolled his eyes at me to which Karen shook her head.

"So, honey, how was your day?" she asked.

"Good, thanks," Haley answered immediately. "Good is relative, considering a third of the world is starving, which does not change the fact that I am clumsy as hell." Lucas, Karen, and I all looked at each other at her speech, a knowing smile on all of our faces. "Did I tell you that I fell down today? Yeah, slipped off the curb, face down, butt in the air. Too graphic? Sorry. I'll just be quiet." I nudged Lucas with my knee, knowing that Haley couldn't be silent for too long.

"So, I got something for you, Lucas," Karen started, only to be interrupted by Haley

"Actually, I found it. Not that I was looking for something specifically, which implies some hideous sort of 'Joey loves Dawson' scenario and completely creep me out, but, you know, we saw it, and..." Haley trailed off, Lucas looking at her expectantly. "Well, give him the book."

Karen handed over the copy of Julius Caesar to Lucas, who was amazing instantly. "Wow, Julius Caesar."

"There's a tide in the affairs of men," Karen quoted, "or something like that."

"Nice. Thank you, guys. Thank you very much."

"Whatever. That's what you're into."

I pulled up to Lucas' house, beeping the horn so that he would know I was here. He came running out shortly after, a half eaten waffle in his mouth. "Yummy," I joke as he gets in the car and buckles up. He scoffs, taking the waffle out of his mouth and downing the water bottle he had. "So, did you hear what happened to the basketball team on Saturday?" I asked as I pulled away. Lucas gave me a condescending look. "Right, well anyway. Apparently, they stole a bus and were drinking on it, Nathan was driving it too. So Nathan is making out with this girl that isn't Peyton, not a surprise, and they almost run into a train." I look over at Lucas at a red light, seeing him give me a weird look.

"Why do you like drama so much?"

I laughed at him. "Because it could have been me, for one. And another reason is because they're idiots that do stupid stuff that should be spread so that everyone knows how big jackasses they are."

Lucas rolled his eyes, looking back at the road. "You sound like Junk when you talk about drama."

I scoffed, throwing my head back to the seat. "I'm not spreading rumors, I'm telling you the cold honest truth that I heard from some random people on the bus."

"Just drive," Lucas says with a roll of his eyes.

I look over at him, but he won't acknowledge it, so I take his command and continue to school.

Lucas and I are sitting in the back of the library, him studying for a test while I do math homework. When we got to school we had forgotten about the conversation in the car and Haley had joined us to make the situation less awkward. "Scott," someone calls making me look up at Lucas.

"Sup Coach," I hear a voice say behind me. I whip my head around, looking at Nathan Scott, only two feet away from me.

"Not you," the first voice says, making me turn around completely to see Coach Durham. "You." He points at Lucas then signals for him to come over. I turn back to Lucas with an open jaw.

"Shit," I whisper to him, making him look away from the older man to me. His eyes are wide and he's not moving at all. "What are you doing?" I whisper harshly towards him. I nod my head to Whitey, gesturing him to join the man.

I look back to Whitey, seeing Nathan looking over at us with a shocked and disgusted look. "You," Whitey calls again, this time pointing at Nathan, "read a book or something." I try to hide a snort into my sleeve, but it doesn't help, drawing the attention from everyone in the room, including the librarian. She gives me the 'shush' sign and I throw my hands up in defense to her as a sign of sorry, turning back to my work.

"Tomboy," I hear Nathan whisper beside me. I rolled my eyes, ripping a piece of paper off my notebook and writing daddy's boy on it before sliding over to Nathan with a smirk.

"What'd he do this time?" Aunt Jackie asks from my doorway. I sigh and turn to face her from my desk,

"What do you mean?"

"Every time that Scott boy does something to get on your nerves, you do a crossword. You've got two out right now, so what is it?" She pushes herself off of my door and comes to stand behind me.

"I'm just checking yesterday's is all," I say looking back down at the two crosswords.

"Two days in a row must have really done something to hit your nerves."

I sigh, putting my pencil down and turn to her completely. She sits down on the arm of my comfy chair, giving me a sad smile. "I'm just worried is all. Whitey asked Lucas to join the basketball team cause they all got suspended and Nathan is gonna make his life hell. I just don't want that for him. He's already got to deal with seeing him, actually having to work with him? I can't imagine the hell."

She laughed and shook her head, placing her hands on my own, pulling them into her lap. "Sweetie, I know you think Nathan is the devil in disguise, and the boy does have that rap for a reason, but you should think about what-"

"There is nothing to understand about Nathan, he deserves every bad thing said about him."

"Honey," Jackie starts but I shake my head. She sighs at my attitude, going to the door and giving me another look. "He's got an asshole for a father too."

After she leaves my phone rings and I pick it up without thinking. "Jesse Russell, how can I help you?"

"So, Jesse, what do you think about me playing? I want your honest opinion." I smile into the phone, hearing the distress in his voice.

"It's not really for me to say, Lucas. I mean, if you really want to do it, it's something you're willing to risk your sanity for, because let's be honest, you'll be insane when-"

"Okay, Jess, I get it, you don't want me to go through with it."

"That's not what I said Lucas, I just you'll be putting yourself out there, and you have to find out if that's something you want. But I'll support you with whatever you choose."

"Thanks, Jesse. There was something else, Whitey left a jersey for me. Number Three."

I smirked into the phone. "Close, but no cigar. Just needed a two before it. Anyways, favorite Scott, I've got to go, finish the homework."

"See you tomorrow, Russell. Study hard."

"The jackass challenged you?" I asked with crossed arms. Lucas didn't answer me, just looked ahead. "Are you gonna play him?"

"I don't know," he answered quickly. "It's not like I have anything to prove."

"But don't you just want to show him sometimes- Oh, damn!' Haley yelled, a flock of birds flying right in front of her and making her almost trip. I snickered into Lucas's arm, seeing him smile and shake his head at our friend. "What is up?" She yelled. "I was attacked by a flock of crows last week!" I laughed, covering my mouth with my hand when she sent me a sad look. "I'm totally serious!"

"By the way, it's a murder," Lucas said shoving his hands into his pockets.

"A what?" I asked, unsure if I heard him clearly.

"More than one crow is a murder," he clarified and I sent Haley a weird look.

"I'm pretty sure neither of us knows what the hell you're talking about," Haley said looking at him like he was crazy.

"A parliament of owls, an exaltation of larks, a murder of crows," he said looking at both of us.

"That right there is why people think you are weird, Scott," I said checking him with my hip.

Lucas rolled his eyes and sighed. "I would like to show him sometimes, though, what a mistake he's made."

"Dan?" Haley asked.

Lucas nodded. "Mostly for mom," the two of us nodded at him. "And... sometimes for me."

"So, Luke, what are ravens?" I asked with a smirk. "I mean, more than one?"

"An unkindness."

"Aunt Jackie! I'm going for a run!" I called. There was no answer, so I assumed she was busy on something in her work and I just left. It was a nice enough day out that exercise would be appreciated, so I took advantage of the fleeting weather.

Across the street, I saw Nathan coming out of his house, athletic wear on and a pair of headphones like he was going out for a run. I groaned under my breath, trying to get a head start on this run so that I wouldn't have to be near him at all. However, it seemed Nathan was in a pissy mood today and wanted to make everyone unhappy, so he joined me in a matter of minutes.

"Well if it isn't the blonde bombshell," he said with a smirk, easily keeping pace with me.

"I thought that was your girlfriend," I said with a bite in my tone. He smiled and rolled his eyes, turning to look forward on the route. "What do you want Scott?"

"I'm just taking advantage of the lovely weather today. Wouldn't want to get out of shape now, I've got an important game coming up." I failed at hiding my disdain, knowing he was talking about Lucas and the Rivercourt.

"You should be careful on this track, Scott, I heard some people have twisted their ankles here before."

His smile only widened, "You're not falling for me, are you, Russell?"

"Like I would make that mistake."

The run continued in silence for a few minutes before Nathan felt the need to break it again. "How's your boyfriend doing?" I rolled my eyes, shoving his side so that he would be away from me, accidentally making him fall. I stopped immediately, looking at him on the ground.

"Shit, Nathan." He rolled over onto his back a grimace on his face. "Are you okay?" I asked him.

"You shove like a girl," he said lowly, pushing himself up.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, looking away from him as he wiped all the dirt off his body. "You're a self-centered jackass."

"Takes one to know one, honey."

Nathan's cell rang, stopping the argument from boiling over, for which I was very grateful. However, not grateful enough to take the advantage and get away from him. I stayed there, watching him open his phone and roll his eyes. "Hey, babe," he said into the receiver, leading me to believe it was Peyton on the other side. "That sucks." He looked up at me, rolling his eyes. "Can't babe, working out right now... really don't want to leave right now." He sighed, looking up at the sky now. "Where are you?" He rolled his eyes. "Can't, my dad is giving me a look right now." He waited a few seconds before flipping his phone closed, a smirk on his face.

"Why'd you lie to Peyton?"

"Felt like it."

"So I take it the big showdown is tonight?" Aunt Jackie asked as I crept down the stairs, trying to stay silent.

I cringed, looking over at my aunt at the desk. "Yeah, it is."

"Is there a reason you weren't going to tell me about it?" she asked, pushing her chair back to turn to me

"No, kinda just slipped my mind."

"Please just be careful going there, don't want you to get hurt."

"I will, Aunt Jackie."

I drove to Haley's house, barely having time to put the car in park by the time she was out the door and in my car. "Thanks for taking me, Jess." I nodded at her, rolling my eyes as she turned the radio on. Crazy in Love was on and Haley was ready to start jamming.

We pulled up to the Rivercourt at 11:35, Lucas wasn't even here yet, though Mouth was there all dressed up like he was a real sports announcer. "Look!" Mouth yelled, pointing to us with the hand not holding his mike. "It's the loyal fans of Lucas Scott, Jessica Russell and Haley James. Any predictions on the game between brothers tonight?"

"There are gonna be a lot of people upset with the outcome tonight," I said smirking at Mouth. He rolled his eyes, taking away the mike. The court filled quickly after Haley and I sat down, most of the people here to cheer on Nathan. I rolled my eyes as another former teammate shouted rude comments to Luke.

A cheer erupted from the restless crowd, causing me and Haley to crane our necks to see what happened, quickly realizing that the other Scott brother arrived. Tim had driven almost onto the court, getting out with a swagger that I was dying to smack off his face. Haley grabbed my hand, grounding me back down, preventing me from doing anything reckless.

Tim walked around the court trying to hype up the crowd for Nathan, which didn't need to happen because they already were here for him anyway. Lucas took another shot from the top of the line, the ball bouncing off the rim where Nathan grabbed it.

He took it back a few steps with a smirk, then intentionally shooting short so that he could follow up with a dunk. "Self-centered, asshole, show off," I whispered to Haley, who only offered a sad shrug in response.

"You like that, babe?" Tim asked, moving in front of us with a smirk.

"Find some other girl to harass, Smith," I tried shooing him away.

"Well, only because you asked so nicely, Russell." He turned around like he was going to walk away, but only fell back on me like a trust fall.

"Ew!" Haley screeched, jumping away to sit closer to Junk.

"Smith, you smell like a garbage can!" Mouth yelled into his mike, scooching away from him.

I pushed him off of me and onto the ground, scowling at him. "I would rather sit with Nathan for 24 hours than be with you in a heartbeat, Tim."

When I looked up, Nathan had given the ball to Lucas and they were talking to each other, though nothing could be heard with the cheers from everyone. In a second they went from crouching down to Lucas faking Nathan and going for a shot, which went in with a 'woosh.' Both Haley and I clapped our hands at the move, cheering on Lucas for a win.

The game went on with more intensity, Lucas and Nathan getting more heated with their moves after every point until it came to Nathan going for a shot and deciding to elbow Lucas in the nose.

I could hear Lucas' grunt from the other side, already getting ready to stand up and yell at Nathan, but Skillz and Haley held me down. I groaned and yanked my arms out of their grasp, settling back down in my seat to see what was happening between the two boys.

Lucas walked over to us, crouched down and his hand to his face. I got up quickly, pulling his head up to see the damage, a busted lip. I looked up at the triumphant Nathan, shaking my head at him and mouthing 'sore-loser,' he only smirked back.

Lucas took his head out of my grasp, shaking it and spitting out the blood. I patted his back as he walked out, sending a middle finger to Tim as he made a crybaby sign.

When I looked back to the game Nathan had the ball at the center, ready to go for another round. "Oh, basket counts," Mouth commented. "It's 14-12, game-point for Nathan Scott. He could win it all." I shook my head at Mouth, knowing that Lucas would come through and beat Nathan's ass, proving that he was just as worthy.

The next play started, Nathan trying to turn around Lucas, which worked and he went up for the basket. Lucas stopped it though by slamming the ball into the backboard. The crowd went wild for the move, the game getting even more intense than it already was.

Haley and I sat on the edge of our seats, already nervous for the next few plays. Lucas and Nathan made their ways back to the top of the paint, though Lucas didn't wait to hit another point. He tied it with his next shot, everyone's eyes going wide at the two. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Tim look nervous, which made me smirk.

Some more words were exchanged between the two brothers before Lucas started dribbling, trying to get an edge on Nathan. He got it a few feet from the basket, spinning off of Nathan and going up for the shot.

I was already standing by the time the ball went in the basket, a smile then growing on my face. I jumped up once before running out to the court, hugging Lucas, whose arm was still up from the follow through. I was quickly joined by the rest of the Rivercourt gang and Haley, all of us congratulating Lucas on his momentous win.

When I pulled away Nathan was staring at us, a look of confusion on his face on how he let this happen. I smiled condescendingly at him and waved my fingers, knowing that it would piss him off. He walked away with a shake of his head, letting me know that I had gotten under his skin this time.

3719 words | edited 5.23.17  
okay, so hope you enjoyed this first chapter of consequence. We met my girl Jesse and learned her relationship with all the characters, some good, some bad, some moderate, and some that will improve.

please vote!


	2. Chapter 2

I sat in my car alone, the music turned off leaving me in silence. I was outside the school, waiting to go into the gym to watch the basketball game, but because I was alone I didn't want to go in, so I waited for Haley and Keith.

A knock on my window brought me out of my trance, turning to the sound and then rolling my eyes at the person there. "What's up Brooke?" I asked rolling my window down for her.

"You're finally coming to a game, this is great! Glad to see that you're putting everything behind you now." Her overly peppy attitude was usually annoying to me, but tonight I wasn't feeling the usual rudeness. I had decided on a mid-year resolution, be nicer to people.

"I'm here to support my friend, Brooke." She nodded at me, hiding a smirk that I could still see in the dark.

"I'll see you in there, Jess." She left with a wave of her hand, but before I had a chance to catch my breath, Haley was there with a confused look on her face.

"Was that Brooke Davis?" she asked. I rolled my eyes at her, rolling my window up and then opening the door. Haley held the door open for me as I put my keys in my pocket, getting out of the car to stand in front of her.

"She's happy that I'm finally getting over everything, can you believe it?"

"What happened to that resolution?" Keith asked, coming up from behind Haley, causing the girl to jump.

"God, Keith!" she shrieked, though the smile on her face gave away that she wasn't very upset. "Can we just go in now?"

We both nodded, heading off to the gym for Lucas' first game as a Raven. Kids swarmed around us, hooting loudly in excitement for the game. I could barely imagine what torture Nathan had planned for the night.

We sat down at the far end of the gym, close to a basket, all ready to support Lucas in this new adventure. I sat in the middle of the two, fiddling with my jacket when I heard a new yet familiar voice. "Keith!" We all turned, seeing Dan Scott make his way over. "Ey, finally came to see your nephew play, huh big brother?"

"Yeah, guess you say that," Keith answered as Dan walked away from us. I snorted as he walked away, eyeing Keith and his mischievous look.

Turning back to the court and the warmups from both sides I saw Nathan take the ball from Tim, going up for a dunk on a hoop. The crowd cheered at his antics, but I wasn't impressed. "He is a showoff," I muttered to Haley's ear, who nodded at my comment.

Looking back up I saw that they had all gone to the bench, taking off their warm-up jackets and getting ready for the tip-off. Lucas paused next to Whitey for a second before joining the court. I smiled placed itself on my face, and even though I was nervous, I was happy for Lucas. Dan Scott was losing his control over Lucas and Karen, finally.

The two teams settled in the middle of the court, ready for tip-off whistle. When it blew, Nathan immediately sent it to a Raven teammate, starting off the game well. The ball went to Tim, who passed it to Nathan seconds later, who then threw it to Lucas, who didn't catch it.

My mouth went to a frown at the loss of the ball, though I remained optimistic for Lucas and the Ravens. Which didn't do much to help. Lucas was not putting any of his shots in the basket, and his defense had much to be desired for, which was lowering the morale of his team and the crowd. I wondered when they were going to stop passing the ball to him, or if Whitey would even take him off the court. This was no doubt playing directly into Nathan and Dan's plan to humiliate Lucas off the team.

"It's only his first night," I sighed, sitting back on the bench as Whitey did indeed bench Lucas.

"He'll get there," Haley agreed.

The team went on to win the game with Nathan as top-scorer. It was annoying, but it would have to do for now. Lucas was a Raven now, and that meant supporting the team, I could be happy about them winning, but I didn't have to be happy about who did it.

At the end of the game, the fans were happy about our win, going down to the court to give their congratulations to the team. The three of us went down as well, trying to find Lucas but he had disappeared. "I'll try the locker room," I told my two companions, both of them nodding before I left them.

I got to the gym doors when a hand grabbed my arm and stopped me from walking any further. "Sorry about Lucas sucking," Peyton said as I turned around. I rolled my eyes, pulling my arm out of her grasp.

"No need to be such a bitch about it, Peyton," I said to her with a humf. She quirked her eyebrow at the retort, but I didn't back down. "Go suck up to Nathan or something." I turned around and left after that, not wanting to deal with the backlash of my statement.

Outside of the gym, I jogged to the locker room, not bothering with knocking as I knew the whole team minus Lucas wasn't there. "Lucas?" I called into the room, but it remained silent. "Seriously, Lucas, are you in here?"

"Did the bastard disappear?" another voice asked to which I had to try hard to repress a groan.

"Do you have to be an asshole all the time?" I asked him turning around.

"Only to people trying to steal my life," Nathan responded, a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Well then, I'll be sure to tell anyone that is trying to steal your life that it's not worth it. You've got an overbearing father, a failing relationship, and a half brother that will outshine you in less than a week." Nathan stepped forward, not a fan of all the words I was throwing at him. "Sounds like a crappy life to me, have fun with it." With that, I sidestepped Nathan and walked into the hallway and to my car. I would probably regret those words tomorrow when Nathan found a way to ruin my day tomorrow, but that was a problem for tomorrow.

I sat in English class next to Lucas, leaning back with a bored look plastered on my face. Our teacher was going on about Hemingway, and if I was honest, I hadn't read the book we were reviewing. I only tuned back into the conversation when he called my Nathan. I looked up from my notebook, my eyes watching Nathan. "Describe Jesse using just one word."

I looked over at Lucas, the two of us rolling our eyes to know that something bad was coming. I looked back at Nathan, who had a smirk on his face. "Give me your best, Scott," I told him trying to match the smirk he held.

"Desperate," he answered, the glint in his eye annoyed me, and I didn't wait to shoot my words at him if Kelly even wanted that.

"Really?" I asked him, and he nodded. "How about, destructive, delusional, defensive, daddy's boy, oh yeah, and di-"

"Okay, Jesse, please see me after class," Mr. Kelly said cutting me off from my final word. Nathan lost the glint in his eye, and now he was glaring at me. I offered him a sarcastic smile as our teacher moved on. "Let's try this again, Peyton, please describe Lucas in one word."

The class was silent waiting for Peyton's word. She looked back up from her notebook, locking eyes with Lucas. "Choke." I rolled my eyes as the class chuckled, all thinking back to Lucas at the basketball game.

"Lucas, care to respond?" Mr. Kelly asked.

Lucas stared at Peyton before answering. "Lonely." The classed ohed at his response and I rolled my eyes. I turned back to the front, my eyes catching Nathan's hand in the air.

"Nathan?" Mr. Kelly asked.

"I can describe Lucas in one word," which meant that things were only going to get worse. "Bastard."

My eyes shot to Lucas, and I had half a mind to slap that asshole myself, but Lucas beat me to it. Shooting up from his chair and tackling Nathan to the floor.

"You really had to start that?" I asked, turning around to Peyton who had a shocked look on her face. She must not have heard me because she didn't respond, her eyes still trained on the scene behind me. Our teacher was trying to break it up, but he wasn't doing so well.

When I started to turn around Peyton finally addressed me. "You're one that was about to call Nathan a dick." I rolled my eyes, turning to face her after I stood up.

"Not like anyone would have disagreed, right?" I asked with a smirk. Happy that I left her speechless, I walked to the front of the classroom, helping Mr. Kelly remove Lucas from Nathan.

"The two of you!" he yelled out of breath. "To the principal's office!" Nathan stood up, fixing his shirt that Lucas had balled up in the fight. "NOW!" He yelled harshly, and the two boys scurried off to the office. "Jesse, sit down." I looked up at Mr. Kelly, a frown on my face as I decided what to do. I was already getting detention for what I said about Nathan. I guess making it worse wouldn't hurt. I hadn't felt that much satisfaction in a long time when it came to pissing off Nathan.

"I'm gonna bring Lucas his stuff," I said to Mr. Kelly, grabbing the books on Lucas's desk and his bag as well as my own thing.

Thirty minutes later found me and Lucas sitting in the hall during free period in silence. "If you hadn't done it, I would have," I told him. "He really had it coming."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to ditch class after," he sighed, letting his head fall to his knees.

"It's not like Kelly would have gotten anything else done is class. No one was paying attention in the first place, and then you tackled Nathan? He would never have gotten their attention back. I was using my time wisely."

"Did you finally read the book, then?"

"Nope," I answered popping the 'p.' "I don't understand how you like English class the most. All we do is read things by dead white males. I don't care what lessons Hemminway can teach me from the grave."

"Is that so, Ms. Russell?" a voice asked, and I looked up from Lucas to see Mr. Kelly standing in front of us. "Quite the stunts you two pulled in class today, am I wrong?" Neither Lucas or I answered him. "Ms. Russell, would you join me please?"

I sighed, pushing myself up so that I could follow Mr. Kelly back to his classroom. Lucas sent me a sad smile as I grabbed my stuff and I rolled my eyes with a small smile, letting him know that I appreciated his help.

Mr. Kelly opened the door to his room, gesturing for me to enter the room before him. I did so, stopping in front of his desk as he closed the door. "Please, sit." I followed his request, sitting down at the desk and putting my books on the table. "Your attitude in class today was unacceptable, and I cannot let it go unaddressed." I nodded, deciding it was best not to interrupt him while he spoke. "I have asked around and know that this isn't common in your other classes, as well as your enthusiasm for other classes. As you are doing extremely well in math and history, I am going to sign you up at the tutoring center." My jaw dropped at his statement, and it took a lot of me to still not say anything back to him. "This will be your punishment, instead of detention, because as much as I detest what happened in class, I'm not going to give you anything more severe then what the two Scott boys got. Dan Scott seems to have this whole school under his thumb, and the principal has let the two off with only a warning." I clenched my jaw then, anger starting to seep its way into my brain as I thought about how manipulative Dan was. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mr. Kelly, and I won't do it again." He nodded with a smile, and I left after that finding Lucas still in the same spot.

"What did he want?" Lucas asked as he got up.

"Apparently I'm a tutor now because the two of you got off with a just a warning and he doesn't think it's fair," I told him, he nodded. "Dan Scott is a manipulative son of a bitch, I really just want to give him a piece of his own medicine."

"You and me both, sister." I laughed at him, shoving him with my free arm. Lucas laughed too, quickly regaining his balance from my push and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "One day, he'll get what's coming to him."

That night, I was sitting in the kitchen working on math homework when Aunt Jackie came into the house, slamming the door behind her. "Is something wrong?" I asked, looking up from my books to see her put her purse down on the table beside the door.

"Yeah," she said in an upset tone. My teasing smile fell into a worried look, unsure of what was wrong with my aunt. "I got a call from the school, about someone mouthing off during class." She took her jacket off, not looking at me as I mouthed curse words. I completely forgot about her reaction to my outburst in English. "Wanna tell me what it was all about?"

I gave her a sheepish smile, closing my math notebook so I could focus solely on her. "Nathan called me-"

"So it was Nathan's fault that you just walked out of class after your teacher asked you to sit down?" she asked with a hand on her hip.

"No, not about that."

"So why did you call Nathan, and I'm quoting 'destructive, delusional, defensive, daddy's boy' and were about to finish it with dick?"

"Our teacher asked him to describe me in one word, and he used desperate, so I had to call him something back."

"Oh, you had to, now?" I gave her my sheepish smile again, and she still didn't seem impressed.

"After Peyton called Lucas a choke and he called her lonely, Nathan called Lucas a bastard and Lucas tackled him. Mr. Kelly sent them both to the principal's office, where they only got off with a warning because of Dan. Mr. Kelly has now made me a tutor as an equal punishment."

"I'll add a week of being grounded to that." I nodded at her addition, accepting my new week of being stuck in the house. "But you'll be going to the basketball game, whenever the next one is. Lucas needs the support." I smiled at my aunt, who had a grin of her own on her face. "So how was school otherwise?"

"Not bad, Lucas and I are tired of Dan's antics, I can't really believe he got them off scot-free, it's so manipulative and annoying."

"You hit the head on that one," she agreed, moving to the fridge to pick something out for dinner.

I sat in English class again, next to Lucas and far away from Nathan, who unfortunately didn't have anything to show from his fight with Lucas. I sighed as Mr. Kelly walked around the class passing out index cards.

"We're going to retry our Hemmingway experiment from yesterday. This time I want you to write down the one thing you want most in the world, one word please." I sighed looking down at the paper in front of me, having no idea what I really wanted that was one word.

After running through a few words in my head, I settled on one. Peace. And so I wrote it down.

I looked around the gym for Keith and Haley, unsure of where the duo was sitting in the crowded gym. I had no idea if Lucas was playing again or if he officially quit the team. I finally saw Keith sitting next to the steps up a few rows Haley on his other side.

I smiled and waved at them about to make my way over to them when someone called my name. "Jesse! You're late!" I turned around confused at the statement thrown at me, wondering who I was late for. It was Brooke.

"I'm what?" I asked her looking for clarity.

"You're a cheerleader now, I was told you would do this like two days ago," she explained like I was dumb.

"I'm sorry, Brooke, I don't remember doing that. Whoever did it is playing a joke on the both of us." I moved to take a step back, but she leapt forward and grabbed my arm.

"Uh, no. Mr. Kelly said you agreed to do this and I'm really happy about it. You're really going to embrace everything." Before I had a chance to deny what she was saying she pulled me along the gym. "Your uniform is in this bag, and when you come back out, I'll have your pompoms. Don't worry about the routine; you can just sit that one out. Say something like you hurt your ankle. You'll catch on with one practice though. I just know you will."

She shoved the bag into my arms and out the door a broad smile on her face as she shooed me to the girl's bathroom. I had half a mind to just ditch the game in all, but I had seen Lucas walk past as Brooke was talking to me and didn't want to miss out on him playing again. I had a good feeling about this game.

I quickly changed into the uniform, which felt stiff and foreign to me. I looked at myself in the mirror, unsure if I should be happy with the look. I was lucky I shaved my legs last night after the shower.

I sighed, shoving my old converse into the bag and walked out of the bathroom, almost running into a large body. "You don't look half bad, Russell," the body said, and I didn't bother trying to suppress a groan at seeing it was Nathan.

"Keep your eyes on, Peyton, Nathan. Cheating doesn't look good on you." He rolled his eye before I could get around him and into the gym, going to sit on the other side of Brooke and start stretching.

"Oh! It's a perfect fit! I'm so good at that." I gave Brooke a half smile, trying my hardest to think about this positively.


End file.
